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Hi,I have read a bunch of posts on here about using apt-get, aptitude, mintinstall, and synaptic, but I am still confused as to what the differences are and which does the best job? I don't think there will be a best, but what is the most preferred method in terms of ensuring my system stays stable & up to date?

I just did a new install and want to update it entirely, I got the typical mint update pop-up and installed all the updates. I don't have the newer kernel for Mint 7 though and I believe there are other updates as well.

How do I get the latest updates without compromising the stability of my system?

virtualu2 wrote:I have read a bunch of posts on here about using apt-get, aptitude, mintinstall, and synaptic, but I am still confused as to what the differences are and which does the best job? I don't think there will be a best, but what is the most preferred method in terms of ensuring my system stays stable & up to date?

The preferred method from Mint, obviously will be mintupdate--using only the updates suggested by the distribution you have installed..

virtualu2 wrote:How do I get the latest updates without compromising the stability of my system?

How do I get the latest updates..Applications or system files --not that it matters in the end, since either selection, that is getting the latest release of a system component or an application could cause some issues/problems; the only difference might be that an application may only affect itself (or it may not, if it also updates some system files or replaces them)

If it is stability you are looking for and with the least possibility of damaging your system, then the only choice is the tools supplied by the distribution, that are used for updates (based on the repositories they have enabled by default)

So, this means you could also use synaptic mint menu>Package manager--to install applications, without any particular concern about stability or problems..

The preferred method of installation is mintInstall > Synaptic > apt > aptitude > apt-get but if you're familiar with the latter tools, then it doesn't matter which one you use, so long as you don't complain if you mess up your system. Similarly the preferred method of upgrading is mintUpdate, as DrHu said, you can get a list of all the possible upgrades in the preferences by enabling visibility of all packages and enabling dist-upgrades (for packages whose dependencies change)

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